Reading
Story—"Jesus as a Little Boy" The story of
Jesus' childhood is re-visited using kid-friendly language as originally
written by Ellen White in The Desire of Ages.

Audio
Story—"Finding the Love of Jesus" Ellen Harmon
was very troubled. She had been taught to believe in an eternally-burning
hell and thought that God delighted in torturing His creatures. She
stayed up all night long for days at a time asking God to save her from
the fires of hell. She was finally relieved when someone shared with
her the message of the cross, that God longs to draw people to Himself.
Ellen felt impressed to speak in public, but she was afraid. Then one
evening at prayer meeting, she got the courage to pray out loud. From
then on, she felt like a different person. She was full of happiness
and enjoyed telling others the story of Jesus' love.

Reading
Story—"A
Glimpse of Heaven" When
Ellen White was 17 she was given a vision of what heaven will be like.
This story is re-told using kid-friendly language as originally written
by Ellen White in Early Writings.

Audio
Story—"The First Vision" A
few weeks after the Great Disappointment of October 22, 1844, Ellen
White joined some friends for morning worship. While they prayed, she
was given a vision. There was a long path with a bright city in the
distance. Then she saw Jesus and the angels coming on the clouds. The
dead in Christ were resurrected. God's people ascended to heaven where
Jesus placed crowns on their heads and gave them harps of gold. They
marched over the sea of glass to the glittering gate and entered the
Holy City.

Reading Story—"Missionary Missiles" Young
Willie White was on a steam boat trip up the Mississippi. He and his
father, James, witnessed to rafters by throwing them tracts about Jesus'
second coming.

Audio Story—"Witnessing for Christ" When
Ellen White was a young girl, she was excited about sharing Jesus with
others. Church members tried to discourage her, labeling her as too
zealous, too young, too inexperienced, and even proud, but Ellen was
determined to witness for God. Ellen and her sisters wanted to do more
to help others learn about Jesus' soon return, but how? They came up
with the idea of raising money to buy books and tracts that could be
distributed to others. Ellen was eager to do her part, and even when
she was sick and in bed, she continued doing all that she could.

Reading Story—"Every Last Drop" Ellen (Harmon)
White and some friends were in a little sailboat, caught out at sea
in a violent storm. God gave Ellen a vision right in the middle of the
storm to reassure everyone aboard that they would not drown.

Audio Story—"Answering the Call" James
White traveled to a town and began a series of evangelistic meetings
at the schoolhouse. At the end of his first meeting, a man stood up
and challenged him. He was furious with James's teachings and threatened
to break up future meetings. James refused to be intimidated by the
threats and returned to preach the next night. An angry mob surrounded
the schoolhouse and began shouting and throwing snowballs into the building.
But James continued to talk to the crowd as best as he could, and by
the end of the meeting, nearly a hundred people stood to request prayer.
As James exited the schoolhouse, the mob grew louder. Suddenly a man
appeared by James's side and escorted him through the mob. After they
passed through the mob, James turned to thank the man, but the man was
not there.

Reading Story—"Dark Stains" God revealed
to Ellen White the secret sin of William Farnsworth, upstanding member
of the Washington, New Hampshire, church. As a result of her care and
concern, eleven people gave their hearts to Jesus and were baptized.

Audio Story—"God's First Messenger" Before
Ellen Harmon's first vision, God gave a message to William Foy, an African-American.
At first he was hesitant to share the message, because who would believe
a black man? But after struggling with his conscience and finding no
peace or comfort, he realized he must tell others what God had shown
him. William Foy traveled throughout New England sharing his visions.
Before long he had spent all his savings on traveling expenses. William
Foy stopped preaching to work full time, but he wasn't at peace. At
last he decided he must do his duty. Although he did not continue to
receive visions, William Foy remained active in ministry until his death
in 1893 at age of 75. He did his duty faithfully, to the best of his
ability.

Reading Story 1—"Mutiny Aboard the Bounty"
After all the violence and bloodshed on Pitcairn Island, Alexander Smith
was now the only man left alive. Ten years had passed since the mutiny
on the Bounty. Recognizing his need of God from reading the Bible
and The Book of Common Prayer, Smith changed his life and led
the other islanders to Jesus.

Reading
Story 2—"The Great Disappointment" After
Jesus did not return on October 22, 1844, many Millerites were asking,
"Why didn't Jesus come? How could something that had been predicted
in the Bible not come true?" While
walking through a field, Hiram
Edson was given the answer to his prayer.

Reading Story—"Where's Jesus?"In the
1880s, many church members were completely wrapped up in the importance
of rules and regulations of religion instead of the love of Jesus. During
a church service, Mr. Waggoner's eyes were opened to the importance
of emphasizing that Jesus saves—you are not saved by keeping
all the commandments, as important as that is.

Audio Story—"Searching for Christ" Ellen
Harmon was discouraged and afraid because she didn't think she'd ever
be worthy to be a child of God. Finally, she decided to accept God's
gift of grace and salvation, but she was distressed because she didn't
feel the ecstasy that she thought would prove that she had been accepted
by God. As she prayed, she suddenly felt her burdens disappear and Jesus
seemed very near. She was later baptized by immersion. But Ellen's doubts
were not fully gone. She didn't think she could ever have the purity
known as sanctification. But she was sure of one thing: Those who find
Jesus will rejoice at His coming.

Reading Story—"A Bolt of White Cloth"
Ellen White became discouraged by all the hard work she was doing, with
no apparent results. God gave her a vision showing her the error of
pre-judging the outcome of the seeds she'd sown.

Audio Story—"Following the Path of Duty"
James and Ellen White turned down several preaching invitations. They
didn't have enough money, plus traveling with their new baby boy would
be difficult. One night, James and Ellen White discovered Baby Henry
burning up with a fever. They tried everything they could, but the baby
didn't get better. The doctor said he doubted Henry would recover. James
and Ellen White prayed and asked God to heal their baby, but even that
didn't seem to work. Then they realized they had been using Baby Henry
as an excuse not to travel and do God's work. They knelt down and prayed
again, promising to go wherever God would send them. Henry began to
recover. Soon after this incident, the Whites received an invitation
from friends in Middletown, Connecticut. From Maine where they were
then living, they had only enough money to get to Massachusetts, but
they decided to go anyway, trusting that God would provide. In Massachusetts,
the people they were visiting gave them some money, enough to pay for
their fare to Connecticut.

Reading Story—"Hope for a Dying Boy"
Mrs. White gave sound counsel to a family whose little boy was dying
because of an unhealthy diet. After the family accepts her advice, the
little boy got better and lived to be 96!

Audio Story—"Holy, Happy, Healthy" In the
1800s people didn't know how to take care of their bodies. They didn't
know the causes of disease, and they didn't know that diet affected
health. In 1863 Ellen White had a vision about health. It was so different
from common beliefs and practices that she was hesitant to share the
message. Some of the things she saw in her vision included working and
eating moderately, the importance of sunlight, water, and fresh air,
and that meat can cause disease. The first few meals without meat were
difficult for Ellen White to eat, but she was determined to follow the
health principles in her vision. Other people adopted the health guidelines
and responded positively. However, Ellen White warned against those
who were taking the health principles to an extreme.

Reading Story—"Called to Preach" John
Loughborough was called to be a minister. He loved preaching but struggled
financially and was tempted to quit. But Ellen White encouraged him
to have faith, and he continued preaching for another 70 years.

Audio Story—"God's Command" Ellen Harmon
was hesitant about sharing her visions. She was only 17, timid, and
ill. It was winter time, and they were out of money. Besides, a young
unmarried girl wasn't supposed to travel around. Ellen Harmon became
depressed, and some believers came together pray for her. Ellen agreed
to join them for prayer. A sudden light came upon her, and Ellen knew
she had to tell others about what she had seen. Her sister wondered
how Ellen could speak publicly when her voice was so weak, but God gave
her the strength, and her voice remained strong while she spoke.

Reading Story—"Sued for Kindness" After
Mrs. White raised her two nieces, Addie and May, their father re-appeared
on the scene (after the girls are college-age) and decided to sue her
for $25,000 on the charge of stealing his daughters' affections!

Audio Story—"The Last Sunset" As James
and Ellen White traveled back to Battle Creek after a weekend evangelistic
meeting in Charlotte, Michigan, James complained of a pain in his legs.
A few days later he suffered severe chills. Soon Ellen also was sick,
and they were both taken to the sanitarium where they were diagnosed
with malarial fever. Ellen grew better, but James continued to get worse.
On August 6, 1881, James lapsed into a coma, and later that evening
passed away. Ellen was stricken with grief, but a week later, at her
husband's funeral, She spoke of the day when their broken family would
be reunited. She looked forward to the day when they would gather around
the great white throne in heaven.

Reading Story—"Schools for God's Children" Ellen
White remembered a horrifying incident as a school girl. A teacher,
in anger, mistakenly hit Ellen on the forehead with a ruler, leaving
an ugly, bleeding gash. The memory of this incident motivated Mrs. White
to try and find a way to start Adventist schools.

Audio Story—"Education's Shaky Start" In
1853, Martha Byington taught the first SDA school in a house with a
little more than a dozen students. There they could have Bible classes
as well as learn "the three Rs". Conducting a school was not
easy, however, and it eventually died out. A few years later, the Battle
Creek Church decided to open a school. They asked John Fletcher Byington,
Martha's brother, if he'd be willing to teach. This time parents complained
that the discipline was too strict, and the school was shut down. A
few years later, some young people took the necessary steps toward establishing
Christian education. Edson White introduced himself to a man who was
sawing wood. The man's name was G. H. Bell. Mr. Bell had been a teacher
for 15 years but had come to the Health Institute to improve his health.
Edson asked him if he would be willing to teach him and a few friends
in the evenings. Mr. Bell agreed. He was surprised when 14 young people
showed up at his door ready to learn.